400 SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES REGIONS. 



Here tlie frontier runs due east, coincidiug with this parallel to its point of inter- 

 section with 70° longitude west of Greenwich, beyond which it follows the crest 

 of a chain of hills to the Dungeness headland on the north side of the Atlantic 

 entrance to Magellan Strait. 



In Tierra del Fuego proper, the frontier runs from Cape Espiritu Santo due 

 south to Beagle Channel, thus coinciding with 68° 34' west of Greenwich. All 

 the groups of islands lying south of Beagle Channel belong to Chili, in whose 

 territory are consequently comprised the Diego Eamirez islets with Cape Horn, 

 southernmost headland of the New World. On the other hand, the Staten Island 

 group, situated to the south, but at the eastern extremity of Fuegia, is assigned to 

 Argentina. Magellan Strait itself is held to be neutral, and freely open to the 

 ships of all nations. Here the contracting powers undertake to raise no fortifi- 

 cations or military lines calculated in any way to obstruct the navigation of the 

 great inter-oceanic passage. 



As regards the long Andean frontier running north and south between the 

 two states, the very text of the treaty itself already gives rise to different inter- 

 pretations in stipulating that " the parting-line shall be drawn over the highest 

 summits which mark the divide between the slopes." But a line bounding from 

 peak to peak in no way coincides with one separating the two opposite watersheds 

 of a drainage area. Thus, to give only one case in point, to which of the two 

 republics will belong Aconcagua, loftiest of American mountains ? If the 

 boundary is to follow the highest crests it must pass over the dome of this 

 mountain, which will become the international corner-stone. If, on the other 

 hand, the limit is to coincide with the divide between two slopes, the whole 

 mass of Aconcagua will be included in Argentine territory. The delineation 

 has to be made by three delegates, two specially representing each state, and the 

 third chosen by mutual agreement to give a casting vote, serious disputed cases 

 being referred to the final arbitration of some friendly power. 



In respect of population, although making rapid progress. Chili occupies only 

 the fourth place amongst the South American nations, being surpassed not only 

 by Brazil and Argentina, but even by Colombia. The population is increasing in 

 all the provinces, but especially in those of the central region round about the 

 capital and its seaport, Valparaiso, as well as in the agricultural districts. The 

 southern section between the island of Chiloe and Cape Horn, is almost unin- 

 habited, while the northern lands, wrested from Bolivia and Peru, are relatively 

 ten times less peopled than the original provinces. 



Geographical Discovery — Pioneer Work. 



Geographical exploration, already far more advanced than in any of the other 

 Andean lands, is still progressing systematically. Although begun later than in 

 the Atlantic sections of the South American seaboard, its starting point was a dis- 

 covery of primary importance, that of the sinuous strait intersecting the southern 

 extremity of the continent. Nevertheless, Magellan, who had the good fortune to 



